Thailand’s tumultuous history with the cryptocurrency industry continues with the imposition of a prohibition on the use of such assets as a form of payment. They might endanger the country’s banking system and economy, the country warned.
Cryptocurrency exchanges and other organizations in the field must stop providing digital asset payment services as of April 1st, according to reports from earlier on March 23rd, citing the local watchdog.
They are also prohibited from advertising the use of cryptocurrency as a method of payment for products and services under the ban.
More On The Ban
As previously stated, the new rule will take effect at the beginning of next month. Local firms, on the other hand, will have until the end of the year to comply with the new rules.
This follows increased speculation and internal debate regarding the country’s probable attitude to the cryptocurrency business.
According to previous reports, Thailand would impose complete restrictions this year. In addition, the country debated what types of taxes it should levy.
According to Bloomberg, Thais own more than $3 billion in cryptocurrencies as of this year, a tremendous increase from just a few years ago.
While digital assets will not be allowed to be used as payment methods, the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has stated that trading and investing in them will be permitted.
Conclusion
Thailand’s ban is yet another case of crypto backlash. For a long time, there has been a backlash against cryptocurrency payments, which has fueled interest in central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) around the world.
This has taken the shape of an initiative in the United States to regulate stablecoins by putting them under the control of regulated, insured institutions.
Turkey was the first big economy to outlaw cryptocurrency payments, doing so on April 30, 2021, citing the risk of irrecoverable losses due to a lack of regulation, volatility, and criminal use, as well as the possibility of digital wallets being stolen and used for “irreversible” transactions.
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